The Coat of Arms

COAT OF ARMS PROVES JUDAH IS SOUTH AFRICA !

THE COAT OF ARMS, LINKED TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON ,PROVES SOUTH AFRICA TO BE THE HOUSE OF JUDAH.

Revealed to Pamela Cornah In the year of our Lord 2009

“SET ME AS A SEAL UPON THY HEART, AS A SEAL UPON THY ARM

As Britain and America prove their Israel Identity by their National Heraldry in symbols, which was pre-designed for them in the Word of God thousands of years ago and divinely linked to their National seals of today, thereby enabling them to prove that they are the descendants of the Ancient Ten Tribes of Israel, so The Great God of the white man also predestined the tribe of Judah, allowing them also to prove their Israel identity in South Africa.
The South African National Seal with its symbols on the original South African Coat of Arms places the white South African nation alongside the other Great Israel Nations of the West and identifies them as THE ANCIENT TRIBE OF JUDAH. The Coat of Arms heraldry aligned with thesc scriptures gives Judah’s latter-day geographical location as South Africa. Since this latter-day discovery, the White South Africans can easily be identified as the Biblical tribe of Judah whose ultimate destination was skillfully guided by the Creator and their identity concealed for it only to be revealed long after their arrival on theAfrican continent.

Thus in 1688 the tribe of Judah arrived in ships at their new
location as promised by God, under the names of the European Huguenots and the 1820 British settlers. Together they grew into the self sufficient and independent nation of white South Africa.

The Holy Spirit inspired the National Seal of South Africa, the Coat
of Arms. This amazing Emblem was so skillfully encrypted without the artist ever being aware of its monumental significance. This picture emblem was unwittingly designed especially to pinpoint the hidden location of Jesus Christ’s own tribe, The House Judah, in the latter days, declaring her history and her future up and to the time of His return.This history of South Africa is depicted and linked by the pictures on its COAT OF ARMS to the magnificent love story of Jesus Christ for His own tribe, as related by King Solomon in the biblical love story of the SONG OF SOLOMON.
THE ENCRYPTION’S ON THE GREAT SEAL OF SOUTH AFRICA

The lion of the tribe of Judah.THE SONG OF SOLOMON 1-13.
A bundle of myrrh is my well beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breast.

Neck amour with studs.THE SONG OF SOLOMON 1-1O-11….thy neck with chains of gold.
We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver

Two standing buck feeding among the lilies each with a foot behind the shield or wall.SONG OF SOLOMON 2-9.
My beloved is like a roe or a hart.( roe – hart =Buck) standing behind our wall,

A white woman leaning on a rock holding an anchor.SONG OF SOLOMON 1-8
….O thou fairest among women

Two identical buckSONG OF SOLOMON 4-5.
Thy two breasts are like two young roes (Buck) that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

An apple tree.SONG OF SOLOMON 2-3.As the Apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons.

A wagon of wood.SONG OF SOLOMON 3-9.
King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.

A Green verdant bed upon which the pictograph is placed.SONG OF SOLOMON 1-16.
…also our bed is green.

Twin buck that are like the two buck that feed amongst the lilies.SONG OF SOLOMON 4-5.
Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are like twins, which feed among the lilies.

THE SYMBOLS EXPLAINED BY DIVINE REVELATIONTHE ENCRYPTIONS EXPLAINED ON THE GREAT SEAL OF SOUTH AFRICA

THE ROYAL LION.
Jesus Christ is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, revealing the accepted National Christian
Protestant religion officially accepted by the white South African Nation.

NECK ARMOUR
South Africans shown as an arms bearing nation
Who are adequately able to protect themselves from attack.

THE TWO BUCK:
Depict One Tribe speaking the two different languages spoken by the white South African people. One Nation with two official languages.ENGLISH: The International language spoken by all the twelve tribes of Israel.
AFRIKAANS: The other official South African language which is the personal means of communication amongst the South African tribe of Judah.

A WOMAN HOLDING AN ANCHOR AND LEANING ON A ROCK:
THE WOMAN: This woman is the symbol for the Nation of Anglo Israel and as Predicted by God she was to be a seafaring nation depicted by the anchor thus showing the arrival of the Israel tribe of Judah on the southern shores of Africa by sea in ships. These new arrivals were known as the Huguenots and the 1820 settlers.
THE ROCK UPON WHICH THE WOMAN LEANS:
Shows the arrival of the Christian Protestant nation Israel/Judah on the Southern shores of Africa dependent and trusting in Jesus Christ The Rock of Ages.

THE TWO IDENTICAL BUCK :
Show the descendants of the original white settlers In South Africa to be an Identical people although speaking two different languages..

THE APPLE TREE:
This apple tree depicts a particular a group of people among the South African Sons especially singled out from amongst the Judah/ South African people who are chosen as Christ’s own beloved Sweetheart. Christ Jesus says he loves to sit in the shadow of this apple tree, The fruit of these sons is sweet to his taste.

THE WOODEN WAGON:
The wooden chariot not only depicts The mode of transport that King Solomon’s tribe was to use to open up the vast frontiers of the wilderness of South Africa. It also tells of the way being paved with love for these South African daughters of Jerusalem.

THE LATIN MOTTO ON THE COAT OF ARMS:
“ EX UNITATE VIRUS”The English translation: UNITY IS STRENGTH.
The Afrikaans translation: EEN DRACHT MAACHT MAGT.
This motto is an instruction and an encouragement to the English and Afrikaans speaking tribe of Judah to unite thereby assuring their prosperity and strength and enabling them to withstand their enemies.

THE LILY
This lily represents a group of people who are especially chosen out from amongst the South African tribe of Judah, these South Africans are the beloved of Jesus Christ who HE compares to a lily while the rest of the tribe is compared to thorns.

KING SOLOMON’S CENTRAL THEME: PARADISE LOST.

The Song of Solomon, describes the white South African people
as a white tanned and beautiful people. They are a nation who achieved
their highest goals and aspirations when they were prepared to fight
against the odds for their divinely selected future.

A tribe pre-destined to reside in South Africa for the purpose of
assuring the survival of the white tribe of Judah. This was achieved by them upholding their high moral standards and their instinctive ideals for race separation.

Although a beautiful white nation says Solomon, they unfortunately did not hold the charge and leaned toward the inclusion of the black indigenous savages of Africa integrating them into their white nation.

When these South Africans fell on easy and wealthy times, they let
down their guard. While good men slept, the enemy was allowed to move in and slowly corrode away at their white God-given sovereignty and independence until they lost all and again sold themselves into a savage bondage from which there is no escape if Gods rescue plan is not accepted.

Now hear their sad lament in the Song of Solomon as they witness their
own demise “BUT MY OWN VINYARD I HAVE NOT KEPT”.

GODS PLAN OF RESTORATION.

THE BANNER OF THE ARMY IDENTIFIED.

GODS PLAN FOR RESTORATION.MY BELOVED IS WHITE AND RUDDY THE CHIEFEST OF TEN THOUSAND. SAYS THE SONG OF SOLOMON.
HIS BANNER OVER ME WAS LOVE – I AM THE APPLE OF HIS EYE.

CAPE PROVINCE

ORANGE FREE STATE

TRANSVAAL

In the Song of Solomon a restoration plan for a terrible mistake that has been made by the majority of white South Africans is advised. The story that King Solomon relates is the story of the “THE WELL BELOVED” a story of the minority who did not disobey their God-given charge. They hold the white line. They are called “chosen” the “only one “ amongst all the South African people who have not lost sight of God’s Goals for His own Tribe of Judah.

A band of people who offer their lives to defend Gods truth” EACH AFTER HIS OWN KIND.” But as is the way of Gods adversary, the evil one came and defamed these gallant warriors and worked at stopping the majority of whites from supporting this plan for The Nations recovery, making people believe strange new religious beliefs even doubting the existence of The Tri Une God and defaming the name of the Saviour Jesus Christ. Consequently the ”Beloved” few is smote and wounded by the watchmen of the city, they rob the extreme right-wing of their God-given status, leaving her despised and in the care of undeserving weak men.

This Beloved in South Africa is described as an army with banners . This Army with its magnificent Banner which represents the South African Protestant Christianity, The only original flag belonging to South Africa, given birth by mother South Africa, It is a banner, a flag born out of the struggle to preserve the sovereignty of the white man in South Africa.

This Banner of love over his chosen, is perfected by the Three Sevens representing, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is the flag of the well beloveds army. ‘ I CHARGE YOU O DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM THAT YE STIR NOT UP NOR AWAKE MY LOVE UNTIL HE PLEASE’ that Statement is a promise of a fearful awakening of this Army by Go, who is very protective of His true Beloved, the extreme right-wing people of South Africa.

The Companions in the Song of Solomon ask a question. “What is thybeloved more than the other beloved?

THE DIVINE ANSWER..

MY BELOVED IS WHITE AND RUDDY, THE CHIEFEST AMONG TEN THOUSAND.My dove, my undefiled, is the one, she is the only one of her mother South Africa. She ALONE is the choice one of her that bore her. Christ sings out the praises of His beloved. He says that He loves to sit under this apple tree. When she is ready, He prepares to awake her from her sleep.

HIS ARMY RESPONDS

I AM MY BELOVED’S AND HIS DESIRE IS TOWARDS ME.
I AM THE APPLE OF HIS EYE .
BORN IN SOUTH AFRICA, BORN ON HOME SOIL , THIS BANNER AND THESE BRAVE MEN ARE BIRTHED BY MOTHER SOUTH AFRICA.

THE CALL.

In the Song of Solomon God’s army calls to their white brothers to come and suck the breasts of their mother South Africa.“You will be welcomed with a kiss and not be despised under God’s banner” assures King Solomon. The King Jesus Christ’s left hand would then be under your head and His right hand would embrace you.

THE PROMISE OF PROTECTION AND VICTORY.

“Christ’s love for this ruddy and white army is a jealous cruel and
protective love”, says Solomon. He says, the coals of this love have a
vehement flame. He say. no matter what floods this extreme right wing
Army has had to endure, HIS love for them cannot be quenched, and at
the right time this vehement and jealous love for the Well Beloved, who
are chosen above all the Daughters of Jerusalem in South Africa, will
ignite the flames of war – They are Guaranteed of HIS protection.
I charge you O daughters of Jerusalem, That you Stir not up nor awake
My beloved until he please. When this beloved awakes from her sleep as
promised, Her task will be to tread out the Vintage where Grapes of God’s
Wrath are stored

THIS INCREDIBLE STORY IN PICTOGRAPH ON THE THE GREAT SEAL OF SOUTH AFRICAN COAT OF ARMS.ALL HAIL TO THE ONLY AND MOST MAGNIFICENT GOD! A PEOPLE ARE

PRIVALIGED TO SERVE THIS JESUS CHRIST, WHO TELLS AND SHOWS HIS PEOPLE ALL THE DETAILS OF HIS GREAT PLANS AND TRUTHS BY WORDS AND PICTURES PLANED AND DESIGNED IN THE HEAVENS FOR EACH ONE OF HIS

TRIBES, DISPELING ALL OTHER MYTHS AND ASSURING US IN SOUTH AFRICA OF HIS ABSOLUTE LOVE FORTHE“WELL BELOVED”, THE EXTREME RIGHT WING. DETAILING IT FOR THE WORLD TO SEE ON OUR COAT OF ARMS.THIS MAGNIFICENT LOVE STORY AND THE HISTORY OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH IN SOUTH AFRICA IS SUNG IN THE BOOK OF SOLOMON AND LINKED BY PICTURES TO THE GREAT SEAL OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN COAT OF ARMS.

Coat of arms of the Cape Colony

The coat of arms of the Cape Colony was the official heraldic symbol of the Cape Colony as a British colony from 1875 to 1910, and as a province of South Africa from 1910 to 1994. It is now obsolete.

The adoption of the arms was a belated response to a British government request, in 1869, for a design for a flag badge to identify the colony. The laying of the foundation stone of the new parliament building in May 1875 was considered as a good opportunity to introduce it. A Cape Town attorney with a keen interest in heraldry, Charles Aken Fairbridge (1824-1893), was accordingly asked to design arms for the Colony.

The foundation stone of the colonial parliament was laid on 12 May 1875. According to the Cape Argus newspaper, "among the conspicuous features of the spectacle was the new colonial flag, hoisted aloft above the corner stone, with the heraldic shielding, surroundings and mottoes blazoned on the Union Jack and the Royal Standard floating in the breeze from the loftiest flagstaff in the centre".

Queen Victoria formally granted the arms by Royal Warrant a year later, on 29 May 1876.

After the Cape became a province of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the provincial administration took over the arms. They were used as provincial arms until the Cape was divided into three smaller provinces in 1994.

The original blazon was:

Gules, a lion rampant between three annulets Or; on a chief Argent as many hurts each charged with a fleur de lis of the second [i.e. Or].

Crest: the figure of Hope proper vested Azure, resting the dexter arm on a rock and supporting with the sinister hand an anchor Sable entwined with a cable also proper.

Supporters: dexter a gnu and sinister an oryx (gemsbok) both proper.

Motto: SPES BONA.

The symbolism of the arms is obvious. The lion is a South African animal, and also appears in the arms of the two colonial powers which ruled at the Cape, Netherlands and Great Britain. The rings were taken from the arms of the founder of the colony, Jan van Riebeeck. The fleur-de-lis represent the contribution of the Huguenots to the early history of the country. The crest is the Lady of Good Hope, grasping an anchor, first introduced as a symbol of the colony in 1715.The supporters, a gnu (wildebeest) and an oryx (gemsbok), are two typical South African animals. The motto, "Spes Bona" simply means “Good Hope”. New artwork was introduced in 1952. Hope's dress was changed to white, and she was given a blue mantle. The arms were recorded in this form at the College of Arms in July 1955, and registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in 1967.

coat of arms of the Orange Free State

The coat of arms of the Orange Free State was the official heraldic symbol of the Orange Free State as a republic from 1857 to 1902, and later, from 1937 to 1994, as a province of South Africa. It is now obsolete.

The Orange Free State was established as a republic in 1854. It needed official symbols, and its first state president, Josias Hoffman decided to have them professionally designed in the Netherlands. At his request, King Willem III of the Netherlands had a flag and coat of arms designed by the Hoge Raad van Adel during 1855, and sent them out to South Africa. As the Orange Free State was named after the Orange River which, in turn, had been named after the Dutch royal family, the arms depicted a wavy orange fess (stripe) representing the river, and three bugle horns, which are the badge of the House of Orange.

By the time the designs reached Bloemfontein, in January 1856, Hoffman had resigned and been succeeded by Jacobus Boshof. Apparently unaware that state symbols were being designed in the Netherlands, Boshof had had a Great Seal designed and manufactured, and approved by the Volksraad (legislature). The seal depicted a tree of liberty, sheep, a lion, and an ox-wagon. When Boshof placed the flag and coat of arms designs before the Volksraad on 28 February 1856, the legislators decided that,
The design of the flag sent by the King of the Netherlands shall be adopted, and to the coat of arms sent by the above shall be added the already existing arms in the Great Seal of the State, with omission of the orange stripe.

The coats of arms, as actually adopted, then displayed the design of the Great Seal between the three bugle horns. This hybrid design was officially introduced on the republic's third anniversary, 23 February 1857, and was used until the republic ceased to exist on 31 May 1902.

As the Orange River Colony (1902-10), the territory had a different coat of arms, granted by King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

When the colony became a province of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the provincial administration took over the Orange River Colony arms, which it used until 1925. In 1937, after a twelve-year period without official arms, the provincial administration adopted the old republican arms, and they were used as the provincial arms until the Orange Free State was reconstituted as the Free State Province in 1994.

Coat of arms of the Transvaal

The coat of arms of the Transvaal was the official heraldic symbol of the South African Republic from 1866 to 1877 and again from 1881 to 1902, and later the symbol of the Transvaal Province from 1954 to 1994. It is now obsolete.

The South African Republic was established in 1857. On 18 February 1858, the Volksraad (legislature) resolved that the new state should have the following coat of arms:

On a silver field there shall be placed a wagon and a golden anchor, while an eagle shall rest upon the arms. On the right hand side of the arms a man in national costume with a gun and accessories. On the left hand side a lion.

The earliest known appearance of the arms was on banknotes issued in 1866. The crudely drawn arms were depicted as a shield with a lion, an anchor, and a man in the upper half, an ox-wagon in the lower half, and the motto 'Eendragt maakt magt' on a riband across the top. This rendition also appeared on the Staatscourant (government gazette) from 1867.

A better version, in which the shield was divided into sections, an eagle was perched on top, and three flags were draped down each side, first appeared on the postage stamps in 1869, and this became the preferred rendition. From 1871, this too appeared on the banknotes,and from 1872 it was on the masthead of the Staatscourant.

The arms were in abeyance during the British occupation of the Transvaal, from 1877 to 1881. Revived in 1881, they became obsolete again when the republic ceased to exist in 1902.

In 1950, the Transvaal provincial administration decided to adopt the old arms as provincial arms and commissioned chief archivist Dr Coenraad Beyers to investigate and report on the most suitable version.The arms were apparently introduced in 1954,and they were used until the province ceased to exist in 1994.

The arms were recorded at the College of Arms in July 1955, and registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in October 1967. The official blazon is:

An oval shield per fess, the chief divided per pale; dexter Gules, a natural lion contourne couchant gardant Or; sinister Azure, a bearded man in national dress wearing a hat and bandolier, and holding in the left hand a gun resting upon the ground; in base Vert, a Voortrekker wagon proper; on an inescutcheon Argent an anchor Sable, cabled Gules.

Perched on the shield an eagle displayed Or.

Behind the shield and draped below on both sides three flags of the South African Republic, green, red, white and blue.

Motto: EENDRACHT MAAKT MAGT

Coat of arms of Natal

The coat of arms of Natal was the official heraldic symbol of Natal as a British colony from 1907 to 1910, and as a province of South Africa from 1910 to 1994. It is now obsolete.
As a British colony, Natal's first official symbol was a Public Seal, authorised by Queen Victoria in 1846, and also used as a flag badge from 1870.

The seal (illustrated right) depicted the British royal coat of arms in the upper half; in the lower half was an ornamental frame enclosing a scene of two wildebeest (gnu) galloping across a plain. The wildebeest became the popular symbol of Natal, and when the government decided in 1905 to obtain an official coat of arms, the wildebeest were the obvious choice for the design. The arms, designed by G. Ambrose Lee, the York Herald at the College of Arms, were granted by King Edward VII by Royal Warrant on 16 May 1907.

After Natal became a province of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the provincial administration took over the arms. They were used as provincial arms until Natal was reconstituted as KwaZulu-Natal in 1994

In their original form, as used by the colonial government, the arms consisted only of a shield, blazoned as follows:

Azure, in front of mountains and on a plain two black wildebeesten in full course at random all proper.

The provincial administration embellished the arms by placing an imperial crown (so-called 'Tudor crown') above the shield, and a riband inscribed 'Natal' below it. The arms were recorded in this form at the College of Arms in July 1955, and registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in January 1969.

As the 'Tudor crown' was no longer the official heraldic version of the crown in 1955, and Natal did not want to change to the new St Edward's crown, the 'Tudor crown' above the arms was modified to make it unique to Natal. The fleurs de lis of the 'Tudor crown' were replaced by crosses, but in general appearance the crown looked the same.

Coat of arms of the Orange River Colony

The coat of arms of the Orange River Colony was the official heraldic symbol of the Orange River Colony as a British colony from 1904 to 1910, and then of the Orange Free State province of South Africa from 1910 to 1925. It is now obsolete.

The Orange Free State republic became a British colony at the end of the Anglo-Boer War in May 1902. The republic's official arms were discontinued, and on 10 December 1904, by Royal Warrant, King Edward VII granted a new coat of arms to the colony. The springbok was chosen as the principal charge in the arms.

Although it had made its appearance in heraldry nearly thirty years earlier (in the crest of the arms granted to Edward Randles of Port Natal in 1875), this appears to have been the first time that the animal was used as a charge on a shield.

When the colony became a province of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the provincial administration took over the arms, which it used until 1925. In 1937, after a twelve-year period without official arms, the provincial administration adopted the old republican arms, which were used as the provincial arms until the Orange Free State was reconstituted as the Free State Province in 1994.

The official blazon is:

Argent, on a mound a springbuck and ona chief Azure the Imperial Crown all proper.

Gauteng Province (1996)

South African heraldry reaches back for more than 350 years, inheriting European (especially Dutch and British) heraldic traditions. Arms are borne by individuals, official bodies, local authorities, military units, and by a wide variety of organisations. South Africa has had its own heraldic authority since 1963, to provide armigers with legal protection, and to promote high standards of armorial practice.

Cape Town (1899)

South Africa (1910)

Origins and history

The first known armorial display in South Africa took the form of stone beacons bearing the Portuguese royal arms, which were erected along the coast by navigators who explored the sea route in the 1480s.Some of these beacons still survive.

17th-18th centuries

Heraldry was introduced into the region by the Dutch, when they founded the first European colony, at the Cape of Good Hope, in 1652.Under Dutch law, everyone has the right to assume and bear arms, and many settlers bore personal arms, some of which are still borne by their descendants today.

The official arms of the Netherlands, and those of the Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie, which ran the colony, were also used.There do not appear to have been any other corporate arms during the Dutch colonial period, but there is evidence of some use of military unit arms in the 1780s.Civic arms were introduced in 1804.

19th century

British military forces occupied the colony during the Napoleonic Wars, and the Netherlands handed it over permanently to Great Britain in 1814. This brought the colony within the jurisdiction of the English College of Arms, the Scottish Lord Lyon and the Irish Ulster Office. British law regards arms as an honour which must be granted or recognised by one or other of these authoritie, but as Roman-Dutch law was retained in the colony, it remained legal to simply assume arms at will. Those who wanted formal grants of arms could apply to one of the three British authorities.

As with language, music, and other cultural aspects, then, British and Cape Dutch (Afrikaner) heraldry existed separately side by side. This is still the case, though there has been some cross-pollination during the past half-century.

European settlement spread to other parts of the region in the 1830s, as a result of Afrikaner dissatisfaction with British rule. Eventually, the region crystallised into four White-ruled territories: two British colonies and two Afrikaner republics. Their governments adopted official arms.

20th-21st centuries

Britain conquered the two Afrikaner republics in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), and the four territories united in 1910 to form the Union of South Africa.

As self-government developed during the first half of the 20th century, some official attention began to be paid to heraldry.

In 1935, the Union government introduced a system of voluntary registration of "badges" by the Department of the Interior. It applied only to associations and institutions, such as schools and clubs, and several dozen of the more than 1300 items registered over the years were coats of arms.The Department of Education, Arts & Sciences took over as registrar in 1959.

The rise of Afrikaner nationalism

The rise of Afrikaner nationalism during the 1930s and 1940s drew heavily on culture and tradition, and several books and articles on Afrikaner family history and heraldry were published during that period. Unfortunately, as later research showed, the heraldic sources were generally not very reliable.

After an Afrikaner nationalist government took office in 1948, with a republic high on its agenda, steps were taken to bring order to the armorial chaos. Between 1949 and 1953, the four provincial administrations introduced systems of registering civic arms to protect them against usurpation.

The defence force established its own heraldry office in 1954. In 1955, an inter-departmental conference recommended the formation of an official heraldic authority, and a committee appointed in 1956 recommended adopting the Swedish model, of a nominated council and an executive bureau, under the auspices of the state archives service.

The 1950s also saw an unprecedented number of English and Scottish grants of arms, to municipalities, corporate bodies, the Anglican dioceses, and a few individuals. With a republic in the offing, there may have been a feeling that it was "now or never".

South Africa became a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1961. A Heraldry Act was passed in 1962,and the Bureau of Heraldry and Heraldry Council were established in 1963.

The Bureau took over from the Department of Education, Arts & Sciences and the provincial administrations as registering authority, and in addition to registering corporate and civic arms, it registers official and personal arms too. Arms have to be heraldically correct to qualify for registration, which remains voluntary. Matriculation, i.e. re-registration of personal arms for armigers' descendants, was authorised in 1969.Thousands of arms have been registered and matriculated over the years.

From 1963 to 1969, the Heraldry Act also provided for arms to be granted by the state president to official bodies and by the provincial administrators to local authorities. Grants were subject to Heraldry Council approval and were registered by the Bureau.(The Act has never authorised the Bureau to grant arms, only to register them.)

Since 1963, the Bureau has introduced many innovations, including lines of partition, charges drawn from South African fauna and flora and the African heritage and, in the early 1970s, a highly stylised, Finnish-influenced, artistic style.

Usage of arms

Roman-Dutch law allows everyone to assume and bear arms, as long as no one else's rights are infringed in the process.Social status, or service to the country, are not requirements as they are in some other countries. There is therefore a wide range of armigers,including:

individual persons

national and provincial governments

local authorities, e.g. municipalities, city councils, divisional councils, district councils

government departments and agencies (though current government "branding" policy requires them to use the national arms instead)

defence force units (army, air force, navy, military health service)

corporations

hospitals

churches (especially Anglican and Roman Catholic)

professional institutes and associations

schools, colleges, technikons, and universities

social and sports clubs.

Regulation

There is little regulation of heraldry in South Africa. Arms which have been registered at the Bureau are protected to the extent that a registered owner can take legal action against anyone who usurps or misuses his arms. In the case of the arms of the national and provincial governments, defence force units, and municipalities, offenders can also be prosecuted and fined,and ridiculing or showing contempt for the national arms is punishable by imprisonment.